HARRISBURG (March 4, 2004) � The Pennsylvania Bar Association Conference of County Bar Leaders (CCBL) will honor Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Rea Boylan Thomas for her long history of service and dedication to Pennsylvania�s legal community. Thomas will receive the 2004 Chief Justice John P. Flaherty Award during the 38th annual seminar of the CCBL March 5 in Hershey.

The Chief Justice John P. Flaherty Award, which is named for the former chief of justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, is presented to an individual who has been active in the CCBL and has worked to improve the legal profession, the justice system or the community. The award is not intended to be an annual accolade.

�This award is designed to recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond in the promotion of Pennsylvania�s legal profession,� noted PBA President Thomas M. Golden. �The PBA is pleased to honor Judge Thomas for her outstanding dedication to the CCBL, her local bar association and to the legal community as a whole.�

In nominating Thomas for the award, Bucks County Bar Association (BCBA) Immediate Past President Rocco Imperatrice III said, �Judge Thomas offers a refreshing perspective and vitality to her service to her fellow and sister members. She utilizes a combination of self-effacing wit, dedication to purpose and intellectual excellence [that] makes her an effective advocate on behalf of the various associations within which she serves.�

Active in the Bucks County, Pennsylvania and American Bar associations, Thomas is a past president of the CCBL and was the first female president of the BCBA. She also was a member of the PBA House of Delegates and currently is a fellow of the American Bar Association.

Thomas is an accomplished speaker and panelist in the legal community and has served as a moderator, panel member and lecturer for the PBA, BCBA and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the continuing legal education arm of the PBA. She also has served as a masters, national and regional instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and as an instructor at Temple Beasley School of Law, Hofstra Law School, Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University and Widener Law School.

Thomas is active in her community, serving as an advisory committee member of the Children�s Advocacy Center, a trustee at the United Friends School, as a board member of justCommunity, Inc. and as an implementation committee member of the Violence Prevention Task Force. She has received numerous awards for her public service work including the Victim Advocate Award from the Network of Victim Assistance.

Thomas is a graduate of Dickinson College and the Dickinson School of Law of Penn State University.